Keeping Actors In The Loop

When we go to the movie theater to watch our favorite actors and actresses in a new film, we’re often blown away by the “magic” that we observe on screen. But there’s a lot of work that’s invested into feature films and just because it looks perfect when we see the end result – that doesn’t meant that it’s the product of a perfect process. In fact, the post-production phase of a film can be very involved and require everyone, even the actors, to help fix flaws that may have occurred during the shooting of the film.

Sometimes when shooting a film, while the footage may look great, there may be problems with the dialog. Perhaps the microphone didn’t pick up all of the lines in their entirety, or maybe background noise distorted the audio, making the dialog difficult to understand. Instead of shooting the entire scene again - which can be quite costly - the director may call an actor into the studio to re-record or dub his or her own dialog. This process is called looping. While it’s not the most exciting part of the job, it’s essential to creating the perfect end result that we’re all used to enjoying in the theater when we sit down with friends, family and buckets of popcorn to watch the latest action flick or romantic comedy.

When an actor is called in for looping, he or she goes into a recording studio with a microphone and a video screen. Once the scene is played for them, the actor must then try to match their dialog to what they see on screen. It sounds simple, but in fact it can be quite a challenge. They must consider rhythm, timing and tone, and sometimes these sessions occur months after they originally filmed the scene, so the scene is no longer fresh in their memory.

While acting is often considered to be a glamorous occupation – and it is – there are a lot of challenges. In addition to all of the creative aspects of the job, there are a lot of technical aspects that happen behind the scenes that can require as much time and energy as the onscreen work.

If you’re ever called into the studio for a looping job, especially if it’s your first time, it can be helpful to practice at home first. Videotape yourself without sound and then play the video back, while trying to match your voice to the video.

Think you have what it takes to make it as a successful actor or actress? Have you checked out the feature film auditions we have posted on our website? Visit http://www.EliteCastingNetwork.com for the latest casting calls in your area.